In the dead of winter, all silent, Sif was woken in the middle of the night.

" Lady Hélna! Lady Hélna!" the old woman cried, throwing open the door. " Come quickly! Quick as you can!"

Sif, seeing the incredible distress she was in, jumped from the bed as fast he could, hackles raised. He had never seen her so upset; she nearly doubled over, and had a coughing fit as Sif gathered his discarded clothes from the day before and threw them on haphazardly. He let the old woman lean against him, tried to ease her coughing as she guided him out, hobbling as fast she could.

" It's horrible! A bear- a bear that did not sleep as it should- a bear!" she cried, regaining her voice. Sif fixed her with his gaze, following as she led him to a group of men who were collecting weapons, being wrapped in furs. " A bear took Ysoult's daughter!"

Sif felt fury course through him; the villagers were his to protect, and bears were meant to sleep in the winter. This wretched beast had defied natural order and insulted Sif at the same time.

The old woman wrapped him in a fur coat, even as Rágn cast them an uncertain glance; was he opposed to Sif going out? He had seen Sif's fast reflexes and hunting prowess firsthand.

A bear was bigger than a snake, certainly, but Sif had also killed the water woman. He disliked having to prove himself again- but there was no time to waste to fuss about it.

He went behind the house he was directed to, and immediately caught the scent of it- this bear stank horribly, starving and sick, mad with hunger. Sif's eyes lighted, and he began running after it, the scent mixing with the sharp tang of human blood. His heart twisted. None of the humans had died of anything but old age since Hélna entrusted them to him, and this was but a young girl.

He chased it deep into the snow, the men following after with their torches and spears, yelling. It was of no matter if they disturbed the forest; the forest needed to part in order for Sif to reach the bear quickly.

At last he came to a copse of trees, the stench overwhelming and metallic; knowing it would most likely be too big for him to seize by the throat like prey, he seized a spear from one of the men and threw himself down a small ledge, approaching it. The girl was still screaming.

He saw it, eyes wide to take in the moonlight, a gigantic mountain of rank fur that had stained the snow around it with mud and gore. Acting purely on instinct, having killed many small things before, he leaped up and crashed down on its back, trying to catch it by the neck and end the fight quickly.

But the bear resisted him, rearing up and roaring as Sif dug his nails into its skin and held on. It bucked around wildly, and made to roll, but the men had come and now stabbed at it from either side. Sif grit his teeth, tasting his own blood, and stabbed into its thick, muscled neck repeatly, blood welling out like a flood.

This served only to enrage it more, but it was weakening; finally, with many spears lodged in its side, Sif was able to reach the main artery of its neck and slit it. The animal let out one last gurgled cry and weakly slumped down; Sif rolled off of it.

As everyone else was still catching up, too stunned to speak by the carnage they had partaken in, Sif went quickly to the girl's side.

But it was too late for her. She had been harrowed through, and no amount of Sif's healing power could recover someone from such wounds. She reached out for Sif, and cried weakly.

" Hélna... Lady Hélna..."

He was overcome with emotion, could think only of his strange thing and how she had died. It took him a moment to remember he could at least soothe the girl's agony and help her pass peacefully.

He took her hands and laid over top of her, knowing he could not move her without making the pain worse. The men had realized what was going on, and one came to be by Sif, sinking to his knees.

" Lady Hélna, please heal my daughter, please," he begged. " She's only just eleven, she cannot die like this..."

His voice broke, cracked into a sob, and he laid his hands over hers as well.

It was not long before the girl died. Sif helped it along because he could not stand to see her suffer.

When she drew her last breath, he took the coat from his shoulders, and wrapped her in it, trying to hide the extent of her mortal injury from her father. The man was already beside himself and howling in pain, like he was the one who had been eaten.

He picked up the girl's body and began to make his way back to the village, no longer paying attention to the men following him. Inside, he too was rent with agony.

He had failed this girl, and in doing so had failed Hélna. He had failed the village, failed her family, her weeping father who was only standing because two other men held him up as they walked. He was no different than he had been on the night Helna died, unable to save her. His power had not grown in the least since he was a cat, and he made a sorry excuse for a god. If he was truly to be master of this land, he should've known of the bear's unnatural behavior before it took one of his people.

The village was alive with light when they returned, a silent procession in the snow, and when they saw Sif at its helm, many of the women began wailing; one screamed and sank to the ground. The old woman's face was drawn, horrified.

Rágn strode by Sif, and went to address the people.

" Lady Hélna caught its scent," he explained, " and ran as fast as the wind, far ahead of us. By the time we had caught up, she had ensnared the beast, and fought with it as a man would, cutting its throat. But... but it had already killed Yda."

His voice cracked as he spoke.

His father, the coven, stepped forward, sweeping out his arm.

" Begin the funeral arrangements at once," he commanded. It was perhaps the first time Sif had seen him act so seriously; he had always taken the man for a bit of a pushover.

The old woman nodded, and called Sif over.

" Lady Hélna, come with us to prepare the funeral," she said.

Sif had never been this deeply involved in the funerals; he still felt numb, holding the cooling body, and he followed her without question.

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